The Past and the Present - Irish in America

When Bishop England terminated his apostolic career, there were in the whole of his diocese, which comprehended the States of North and South Carolina and Georgia, but 8,000 Catholics; and now in Charleston alone there are 12,000 Catholics, 8,000 of whom are Irish-born, or the descendants of Irish, And in the city of Mobile, which bounded the vast diocese of that great prelate, there is now a Catholic population of some 12,000, mostly Irish—a thriving, orderly, prosperous community—presided over by a good and zealous Irish bishop.

Take a Northern city, Manchester, in New Hampshire; and we shall see how the good work proceeds. The case of Manchester is more important, as we may contrast the past—of a few years since—with the present. The existing Catholic church being too small for its growing Catholic congregation, now numbering 8,000, a similar edifice is in the course of erection. Shortly after the existing church had been erected, which it was in evil days, and under circumstances of the greatest discouragement—in fact, of insult and actual outrage—a band of riotous Know Nothings assembled on the Fourth of July, and commenced its destruction. They had succeeded in destroying its windows of stained glass, when a party of Irish Catholics gallantly encountered and dispersed the mob, and saved from further injury the church which had cost them so much sacrifice. To the credit of the local authorities, they not only expressed their regret at the outrage, but offered, as a compensation, to repair all damages. This the Rev. Mr. McDonald declined on behalf of his flock, simply requiring protection from future violence. The attempt on the church was not the only one made against the Catholics in Manchester. The Convent of Mercy, which is adjacent to the church, was near being destroyed by fire at the hands of a fanatical workman who was engaged in its erection. He remained one evening after the other workmen had left, and deliberately set fire to some shavings that he brought with him to the cupola for his nefarious purpose. Fortunately, no sooner had the flames broken out than they were discovered, and the fire was extinguished before any serious injury was done. But since then both church and convent have remained unmolested, and there are few cities in which religious and clergy are now more respected than in Manchester. Since the arrival of the Sisters, in 1858, there have been over 250 converts instructed by them in the faith, and mostly from the wealthier class of society. In the free schools under the charge of the Sisters, there are more than 800 children, all of whom are either Irish-born, or of Irish extraction. Besides the free schools, there are also, under the same management, two pay schools, and a select boarding school.

Twenty-five years since, a room of very moderate size contained all the Catholics that assembled to worship God in the city of Newark. In this temporary chapel the women alone were accommodated with seats, which were formed of rude planks laid across empty boxes. What a change in 1866! A cathedral, with other churches, a church of grand proportions in contemplation, several valuable institutions, an efficient staff of priests, and 13,500 communicants at Christmas!(51)

Featured Books

Ireland’s Welcome to the Stranger (also onKindle) is an American widow’s account of her travels in Ireland in 1844–45 on the eve of the Great Famine. Sailing from New York, she set out to determine the condition of the Irish poor and discover why so many were emigrating to her home country. Mrs Nicholson’s recollections of her tour among the peasantry are still revealing and gripping today. The author returned to Ireland in 1847–49 to help with famine relief and recorded those experiences in the rather harrowingAnnals of the Famine in Ireland (Kindle version here).

Annals of the Famine in Ireland is Asenath Nicholson's sequel to Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger. The undaunted American widow returned to Ireland in the midst of the Great Famine and helped organise relief for the destitute and hungry. Her account is not a history of the famine, but personal eyewitness testimony to the suffering it caused. For that reason, it conveys the reality of the calamity in a much more telling way. The book is also available in Kindle.

The Scotch-Irish in America tells the story of how the hardy breed of men and women, who in America came to be known as the ‘Scotch-Irish’, was forged in the north of Ireland during the seventeenth century. It relates the circumstances under which the great exodus to the New World began, the trials and tribulations faced by these tough American pioneers and the enduring influence they came to exert on the politics, education and religion of the country.